


in the shallows

by someoneplsloverobbierotten



Category: LazyTown
Genre: (sport aint no human rob watchu talkin about), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, M/M, Merperson Robbie Rotten, elf sportacus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-10 04:50:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14730263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/someoneplsloverobbierotten/pseuds/someoneplsloverobbierotten
Summary: Robbie's rest in his favourite cove is interrupted when an apparent human makes a mistake.---------------inspired by tumblr user lazy--star's merperson Robbie art :)





	1. respite

**Author's Note:**

> ayo - so this should only be a short fic since im struggling with writing lately, but im determined to finish it!  
> idk how to put links in these places but it was inspired by tumblr user lazy--star's merperson Robbie art so u should go check them out bc i am In Love with merperson robbie hoooooooooooooooooooooo boi.

Robbie hated the hustle and bustle of his reef.

Compared to others his reef was relatively quiet, sure: with the pod being so much smaller than most others across the ocean, but that didn't mean that it was actually _quiet._ Granted, the size of the pod and its distance from human settlements meant that they didn't have to expend the same amount of focus on defence that the other, larger pods did, but there was still _life,_ still things that had to be done, like gathering food and materials, and tending the coral farms. People still had trading and maintenance to do, and there were still a few border and scout patrols that needed to be done, despite the size of the pod and the well concealed reef it resided on. It was still a _pod,_ and a pod always brought noise no matter how small it was. Especially when there was a gaggle of children always frolicking about, playing and singing and shouting - they were so loud that Robbie could hear them all the way over in his cave on the reef's edge!

No, Lazyreef may have been small, but it was very far from quiet. And well, if even a pod as small this one could produce such a racket, Robbie dreaded to think of what living in a larger one would be like.

Between the reef's edge and the shallows, Robbie shuddered, tail-fins seizing at the mere thought. There was no _way_ he could cope with moving into a bigger pod; too many people, so much more effort and responsibility too, if he moved to a pod that had more interactions with predators. Robbie grimaced. His little pod might not be as lazy as he'd like, despite the name, but it was still a much better prospect than any of the others, that was for sure.

Still, sometimes Robbie needed to get away for a while; somewhere quieter where even the children couldn't bother him with their raucousness.

Five miles out from the reef, the ocean gave way to land - somewhere very dangerous for Robbie's kind. Young Merpeople were taught to stay away from land and its accompanying humans from practically the moment they hatched. Not one for adventure, Robbie had absorbed them like a sponge, having been much happier exploring near the reef instead of sneaking off to find land. But, his desire for peace and quiet had eventually forced him beyond the reef, leading him to the masses of land he was warned away from and the caves that littered their edges.

Caves just like this one.

Robbie smiled to himself, fins flaring in anticipation as he swam into the familiar shallows. He already felt more relaxed just by being here, feeling the tension practically bleed from his bones and away into the water. Goodness, how he'd missed this place.

He moved slowly through the water, content to just swim around at his own pace for a bit, fingertips trailing through the soft, sun-warm sand. This was one of the only coves Robbie had discovered with a sand beach; most of the others had been covered in pebbles, and he couldn't do _this_ on a pebble beach.

He swam as close to the shore as he could without running the risk of accidentally beaching himself, fingers continually parting the sand beneath him. As nice as it was to just _feel,_ sometimes he would unearth things buried in the grains; shells or bones or a clutch of turtle eggs - which he always left undisturbed, of course - once he'd even found a fossil. Quite often though the things he found were unnatural, scraps of material and metal left behind by humans.

Robbie had never had any interest in humans themselves - angry, dangerous creatures - but some of the things they left behind were interesting. Well, sort of. They could be _useful;_ particularly the scraps of material he sometimes found, or the plastic that was left bobbing about in the sea. It wasn't good for the other animals that inhabited the water but for Robbie it was rather useful indeed, and he always made sure to collect every scrap of plastic he could find. Better in his hands than causing issues for other creatures anyway.

Something sharp caught under his nail and Robbie hissed, reeling back as he yanked his hand against his chest. His surprise sent him a little off kilter, his hair breaching the water's surface for a moment, but once he righted himself he inspected his hand. There was no blood, but whatever had happened there had still been enough of an impact to sting.

Frowning, Robbie stuck his finger in his mouth and reached down with his other hand to dig through the sand. He hadn't been bitten, so he was pretty sure that he could hunt for whatever it was without being savaged by a little sand beastie. After a few seconds his hand closed around something hard and he pulled it up.

It… he had no idea what it was. But he did know that it was human made. Something metal, if Robbie was correct. Longer than his palm and splitting into four tines at the end, it reminded him of the picks that Robbie's species used to get molluscs out of their shelves. Theirs were usually made from carved bones though. Still, it had too many tines to be able to get something out of a tiny little mollusc shell. Weird humans. Still, he decided to keep a hold of it. Even though he wasn’t the biggest fan of metal objects due to the fact that some of them tended to change colour and become very brittle after a while, you never knew what could be useful.

Robbie allowed himself a small smile. Not bad, considering he hadn't been actively hunting for anything today. He decided to quit while he was ahead, content with what he'd found so far, and headed for his favourite part of the cove; the old overturned row-boat submerged a few metres out from the shore.

It was a bit of a wreck; with a hole smashed in one end and the other propped up on a rock it was going nowhere soon, but that was perfect for Robbie. He had no need of a working boat, but a sun-shade in the water? He couldn't ask for anything more perfect.

Grinning, Robbie swam to the end that had been run up onto the rock. Set like this, there was a decently sized gap below the boat, big enough that Robbie could slide his upper body under it without issue. He hummed happily and twisted, setting the metal thing he'd found by the rock the boat was propped up on and settling down on his back, his arms crossed behind his head. Like this, he could keep his head and shoulders in the shade provided by the boat while his tail laid outside and soaked up the sun's rays. Plus - the hole in the other end in the boat let in enough like that he wasn’t kept in total darkness while he rested. His species may have been fond of deeper waters but Robbie did _not_ like the dark.

Robbie sighed contentedly and wiggled in the sand. Like this he was even more grateful for the sand beach - a pebble beach would be _awful_ to try and lay on but the soft sand here was lovely, especially since it and the waters had been warmed by the morning sun. Robbie let himself sink into it. It was _so_ nice; wonderful on his aching back.

As comfortable as this, Robbie could almost envision living out here.

In all honesty it wouldn't be hard to move out here permanently. There were a few cave systems nearby that he could turn into a perfectly good home, just like the one he has back at the reef. It was so quiet out here, so peaceful and perfect. No one would ever bother him…

Robbie sighed.

And that was the problem.

He wasn't anything even close to a social creature, preferring to only ever interact with others when necessary, but permanent silence - permanent _isolation_ \- would drive him insane. As wonderful as the idea of peace was, he wouldn’t cope on his own and he knew it. He loved this place, he truly did, but he could admit to himself that the most it could ever be is a resting place, a small place of respite that he could come to when the noise at the reef became too much. It could never be permanent. And despite how… overwhelming it could be, Robbie _did_ love the reef. The view was beautiful, the surrounding wildlife was really something special, and even though the children could be _ridiculously_ loud and annoying, Robbie did hold some love for his pod too. They respected him, both in his desire for solitude and his intelligence, coming to him for creative input and advice despite his crotchety manner. They didn't seem to mind.

Robbie turned his head, staring absently at the light filtering down through the hole in the boat's hull and sighs. He loved it here, but he wouldn’t be able to live here, as much as he wished he could. It just wasn't practical. Especially since if he was _completely_ alone then he would have no protection from humans or other predators. Granted, any sea creatures that actually posed a threat to him wouldn’t be able to actually swim in waters this shallow, but the humans were still a risk.

He'd done some scouting back when he'd first discovered this cove and from what he could tell, there weren’t any human settlements anywhere even _remotely_ nearby anyway. He still found bits and pieces from them around the cove of course, but that didn't mean anything; human stuff washed up all over the ocean. Just because he found their debris didn’t mean they were actually any nearby.

But it was still a risk. All it took was one human with a spear and a decent aim and it would be bye-bye Robbie.

He shuddered, fins curling in revulsion. No. It would be far too dangerous for a _pod_ to live this close, let alone a single solitary Merperson.

With effort, Robbie pushed the thought from his mind. It wouldn’t do to dwell on that again; he couldn't live here and he knew it. It was an old thought, and one he should have known by now not to revisit. Huffing to himself, Robbie stretched his arms above his head, hearing something in his back crack, and turned onto his stomach, determined to simply enjoy himself while he was there.

He shifted around in the sand for a moment until he was comfortable. It was time for a nap. Head pillowed on his arms, Robbie closed his eyes - just as something hit the water beside the boat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK AT THIS STUFF  
> ISN'T IT NEAT  
> WOULDN’T YOU THINK MY COLLECTIONS COMPLETE~
> 
> yeah I couldn’t resist making merperson-rob find a fork :/


	2. flee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight warning for a little bit of blood at the beginning of chapter - its just a nose-bleed and its not there for very long, but it is there so just look out :)

The sudden splash rocked the boat on its perch, but Robbie didn’t have time to do anything other than panic as a pair of arms slid under his tail and _pulled._

Fear rushed through Robbie like electric and he thrashed, trying to shake off his attacker, but they were too strong and he was hauled out from under the boat, writhing and hissing and twisting in the firm grip. He felt his side breach the surface of the water, then his arm, and through the churning water he saw something in the vague shape of a face and took his chance, flinging his arm out with as much force as he could.

He felt a crunch as his elbow connected with something hard and whatever was holding him yelped, dropping Robbie immediately. He crashed back into the water in a tangle of limbs and tail, upside down and flailing wildly. 

Desperately trying to right himself in the shallow water, Robbie accidently pushed himself above the waves and saw the broad form of the creature that had assaulted him towering over him, clutching at its bloodied nose. It had no fins or tail, instead standing in the shallows on two strong legs. 

_A human._

It gasped as it caught his eye and Robbie froze where he sat, half in and half out of the water. For a moment neither of them moved, drops of blood from the human's injured nose running down its arm and intermingling with the water flecked across its tanned skin as they stared at each other in shock.

"I- I'm so sorry," the human suddenly spoke, reaching a bloodied hand towards him, "I didn’t reali-"

The movement startled Robbie out of his paralysed state and he jolted, immediately turning and pushing off of the sea-bed with his tail and into the deeper waters.

_"Wait!"_ the human called out, but Robbie didn’t stop, powering through the water as fast as his tail could take him. The human's voice was immediately drowned out by the ocean, and Robbie didn’t look back.

 

* * *

 

 

Robbie didn’t slow down until the reef was in sight, even though every muscle in his body ached from keeping up such a high speed for so long.

Only when multitudes bright of coral finally came into view did the tight, cold knot in Robbie's stomach start to loosen and he finally allowed himself to slow slightly. He didn’t stop though, swimming without pause until he'd reached the entrance to his cave. Thankfully he didn’t run into anybody on the way aside from a slightly nervous shoal of butterfly fish - one of the perks of living on the very edge of the reef. He couldn’t face anybody right now, not even Milford or Bessie.

There were a few seahorses hovering outside the entrance to his lair and he shooed them away gently, even though he wanted to sweep them aside and get down into his home as quickly as he could. Goodness, they were such _slow_ creatures. Swimming down the tunnel, the knot loosened a little more; chased away the familiar glow of the bioluminescent corals that lined the rock.

The relief Robbie felt when he entered the cavern of his home was immense, almost like a physical weight had been lifted from him. He made a beeline for his all-time favourite place, the huge orange anemone that took up the far corner of his cave. Only once he was in the centre of its swaying tentacles did he finally stop swimming, sinking onto the bed of the anemone and curling up tight in the middle of the mass of soft tentacles. It was the best protection he could think of, as even though the venom in the anemone's tendrils was harmless to Merpeople like him, it would be very dangerous for any other kinds of creatures to come into contact with it. Coupled with the depth and hard-to-find entrance of his cave, it allowed Robbie enough security that he was able to calm down slightly after a couple of minutes with deep breathing.

A _human_ had gone to his cove - despite Robbie's supposed knowledge that there _were_ no humans on that part of the land, or even anywhere near it, a _human_ had gone to his cove and seen him and managed to sneak up on him and attack him.

In the comforting confines of his anemone Robbie shuddered, his tail coiling around himself.

He could never go back to that cove again. If one human had gone, then there could be more. And even if it _was_ just the one, what was it doing there? Robbie had _never_ seen a human there before, and he'd been going to that cove for years. Maybe it was just a one off…

But Robbie couldn’t assume that. And even if it _had_ been a one off, Robbie could guarantee that with the human's discovery of _him_ that it would no longer be. Would it stick around, waiting to see if Robbie would come back? Robbie very much hoped not. He absolutely _despised_ the thought of a human wandering around that cove. It was _his;_ his secret haven, his hunting ground, his private place to _rest._ Humans had no place there, and hopefully the unlucky one that had surprised Robbie an hour ago would never show it's face again. He _had_ managed to injure it after all. Not mortally, Robbie had probably only managed to break its nose at the most, but maybe that would be enough to put it off from returning to the cove. It had certainly looked surprised at Robbie's retaliation. Likely it wasn’t expecting him to put up much of a fight - much less actually get a hit in.

A sudden thought made Robbie's stomach clench sharply. He had _injured_ it. Instead of warning it off, maybe he had simply angered it. Perhaps it would be even more determined to get at him now and would keep skulking around the cove to take revenge.

Robbie winced. No, he would _definitely_ not be going back to the cove again any time soon. No matter what was actually going on with that human, the risk to himself was just too great - he couldn't go back.

_…He couldn’t go back._

The realisation that he had just lost his true sanctuary hit him like a punch to the gut, the knowledge settling over him like a cold, dead weight, as it sank in. Curling even tighter, he wrapped his arms around his tail and hugged it. He'd never find as good a place as that cove. All the other ones on that particular stretch of land had been bad at best, and he couldn’t even go to any of those now anyway in case there were more unseen humans lurking about. He wouldn’t be able to find anywhere like that without travelling a very long way, and that just wasn’t worth the effort. Plus, he didn’t even know where any more land was. He wasn’t much of a traveller, the mainland with his cove on it was the farthest he'd ever gone. What if he tried to go further than that and couldn’t find his way back home?

He twisted on the anemone bed, turning onto his front and hiding his head with his tail fin. He needed to stop thinking about it; missing his cove or trying to get over it - it was only depressing him more. He needed a way to forget about it but he didn’t want to move. He was tired from the fright and the long swim; all of his limbs felt heavy and sluggish. Any appetite he'd had had vanished, and he was too tired and distracted to be able to concentrate on tinkering with anything.

Belatedly he realised that he'd left the metal thing he'd found at the cove, having forgotten all about it when that _beast_ had dragged him out from under the boat. He groaned, flopping onto his side and burying his face in his hands.

One of the clownfish that usually hung about in his anemone swam into the back of his hand and he sighed, lifting his face out of his hands so he could reach out a finger and pet it's belly. Most of the fish around the reef were too skittish to properly approach Mers - or just plain not interested - but the ones that resided in Robbie's cave were well accustomed to him, particularly the ones that shared his anemone. The clownfish in particular, Robbie had discovered, loved a good petting.

A few more appeared from within the surrounding tentacles, swimming around his head. Robbie watched from the soft bed of the anemone as the fluttered about in slow circles. They were sweet little things, not bad cave-mates at all. To the best of his ability he counted them, then their stripes, then their fins and tails until he'd calmed enough to let their movements lull him into a deep but fitful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> … apologies for the sads in this chapter - it won't last, don’t worry.
> 
>  
> 
> (All I could think when writing that second paragraph was: [ROBBIE USED 'THRASH']  
> [IT DOESN'T EFFECT THE OPPOSING SPORTACUS…])


	3. return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how does robbie know what a squirrel is? who knows.  
> (i sure as heck dont)

Robbie tried to ignore his need for peace and quiet as much as he could, doing his absolute best to distract himself.

He threw himself into his work, going through every single scrap that he'd scavenged, inventing and tinkering until he ran out of new things to mess with and had to resort to trying to upgrade things he'd already built, none of which really worked out. In an effort to find something else to do he ended up badgering practically the entire pod for something to fix or make, but aside from a few paltry repairs there was nothing. Whenever he was in his cave, surrounded by all his now-empty empty material stashes, his thoughts always drifted to the metal thing he'd left at the cove. He wondered what he could do with it, what it might be useful for; if he could bend or re-shape it without it snapping. Without anything to do, his thoughts always drifted back to his- to _the_ stupid cove.

He was overeating as well, practically demolishing the market's supply of molluscs and shrimp every time he went just to try and fill his time with something. Once he'd burned through all his materials he just couldn't find anything else to distract him from thoughts of the cove - or the noise of the children.

He'd _tried_ to find somewhere quieter when kids were being loud, he really had, but it was impossible. If he stayed anywhere near the reef he could hear them; the only total silence he could get was in the deeper ocean, which was useless. He couldn’t _rest_ in the middle of the sea; with nowhere to lay and nothing to discover. He missed the cove, he missed his boat and the soft, warm sand to lay on. Nowhere else even came close - heck, none of the places Robbie had tried so far even reached mediocre.

Almost three weeks in, Robbie was at his wits end. He'd completely run out of things to do, and if he kept on trying to eat himself into a distraction then he'd start to get even chubbier than he was.

Eventually, the noise just became too much. He didn’t know what was going on in the town - perhaps the children had invented a new kind of game or something - but it seemed like noise was coming from every turn. The market was literally booming, seemingly every Mer in the pod out and about for something and the kids were screaming and singing for whatever reason, only getting louder in competition with the noise from the other reefs residents. Robbie loved his cave; the wide, open space, the privacy and the coolness that being such a ways underground gave it, and his beautiful, wonderful anemone, but one real the problem with living in an underground cavern almost directly beneath the reef was that any noise made on the reef travelled straight down to him and bounced off the walls of his home in a horrifically amplified echo. He got little to no peace in his home during the day normally, but today was ridiculous. He couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t think, he couldn’t even eat. So having exhausted all other possibilities for peace during the past three weeks, Robbie finally snapped and gave up, swimming up and out of his cave and heading for land.

He swam as slowly as possible even though he was so desperate to go back, his nervousness at returning to the cove drowning out his haste to get away from the noise. The entire way there he ran through the pros and cons of going back in his head.

If he went back and the human was there then he could get very hurt indeed, especially if the human had brought _more_ humans with it. If he went back and the human _wasn’t_ there though, he could get his cove back.

If he didn’t go back at all, then how would he know whether or not the cove was safe? He could be staying away for no reason! For all he knew the human hadn't been back since Robbie had broken its nose and Robbie had been denying himself all that beautiful solitude for nothing!

…On the other hand, the human _could_ be there, and Robbie staying away would only be in his best interests. If he stayed away then he wasn’t risking getting hurt by going back.

It was an endless circle, and in the end Robbie decided that he knew full well that it wasn’t a good idea to go back but it was quite obvious that he couldn't - and _wouldn’t_ \- stay away. So in an attempt to compromise with himself he made a plan to stay out in the sea and scout for a bit. If he saw any sign of the human then he would go back home immediately, regardless of the cacophony that he would be heading back to.

About twenty feet from the cove Robbie stopped swimming, simply treading water in the ocean, and slowly rose his head above the water's surface, just up to his eyes. He couldn’t see anything in the cove itself… nothing near the faint bump of the boat, or on the shore. There was nothing on the surrounding cliffs except the usual trees and foliage.

Tentatively, Robbie swum a little closer. He still couldn’t see anything, but he kept his head as low as he could in case he was spotted without realising - not that he could really be touched this far out, but you never knew. Humans were crafty creatures. In the reef, surrounded by fish and coral and vegetation of all sorts of colours he could maybe blend in a little, but in the still blue waters of the sea his pale skin and jewel-purple scales would be easy to spot, especially when he was this close to the surface.

He kept his distance for almost a half hour, but after not even seeing so much as a squirrel in the trees he decided it was safe enough to creep closer. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the cove whatsoever - no sign that Robbie or the human had ever been in there.

Good. Robbie liked his cove just the way it was, he didn’t want anything changing it - not even himself, never mind some dumb human lumbering around and destroying things.

He wasn’t stupid enough to go and rest under the boat again, as much as he'd _love_ to take a nap right now he knew he shouldn’t take the risk. Instead, he stuck as close to the sea-bed as possible, practically crawling along the sand rather than actually swimming as he went over to the boat and had a quick but thorough check to make sure that nothing was lying in wait underneath. There was nothing there - not even the metal thing he'd found last time, which was disappointing if not surprising. The sea had probably carried it away by now. With no apparent danger, Robbie turned over and sat up against the side of the boat, sighing in pure relief. He could finally _relax._ Even just leant against the boat Robbie could already feel a large amount of tension falling from his shoulders. It wasn't quite as good as napping under the boat, but it was still pretty darn good. He was glad he could at least still rest like this. He didn’t let himself properly fall asleep, but it was so much better dozing against the boat's hull than staying at the reef.

He stayed like that for hours, only moving if he got a little stiff. When he finally convinced himself to go back home it was only because the sun was setting, and if he waited any longer there wouldn’t be enough light for him to find his way back home through the deeper waters.

On his way out of the cove he bumped into something floating in the ocean. It was hard to see in the fading light but he knew it was human-made. Something uncomfortable fizzed in his gut as he held it in his hands. He tried to ignore it, reminding himself that just because he'd found something human didn’t mean that there was a human nearby. Human stuff turned up in the sea all the time, even when humans were nowhere near. You'd find stuff floating in the middle of the ocean sometimes, miles and miles from land - yet there were certainly no humans in the middle of the ocean.

Robbie dredged up a smile. He was happy. Even though he'd had a scare, today just proved that it was fine; the cove was perfectly alright to come back to, that random human clearly wasn’t there now. Perhaps it had figured that it'd lost its chance at Robbie and figured that he wouldn’t be coming back again anytime soon, not after a fright like that.

His smile became a little more real. Whatever the reason, Robbie was content that the cove was his again, so he held his weird little plastic thing against his stomach to stop it from floating away and swam home, guided by the last few rays of the setting sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (it physically pained me to write 'if he kept on trying to eat himself into a distraction then he'd start to get even chubbier than he was' like it’s a bad thing. rob we lov ur chub honey ur beautiful)


End file.
